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Coroner identifies victim of fatal crash off of Skyline Boulevard

The San Mateo County coroner's office has identified the man who died in a solo-vehicle crash Thursday afternoon off of Skyline Boulevard near the San Mateo/Santa Clara county line.

The man, Phillip Restivo, 18, of San Martin, was the front seat passenger in a gray 2001 BMW that went down an embankment and slammed into at least one tree in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Page Mill Road, according to California Highway Patrol officials.

CHP officers responded at about 2:10 p.m. to reports of a smoking vehicle with an occupant still trapped inside. It appears the driver was speeding south on Skyline when he lost control of the car, veered into the northbound lane and then crashed down an embankment on the opposite side of the road, according to CHP Officer Art Montiel.

The car hit a tree 15 feet from the road and then landed on its wheels about 40 feet from the road. CHP officials initially said Restivo died at the scene but since changed that to say that he died on the way to the hospital.

A rear passenger, a 19-year-old man, suffered major injuries and was taken to Stanford Hospital. The driver, a 17-year-old San Jose resident, suffered only minor injuries, Montiel said.

It does not appear either drugs or alcohol caused the crash. The most likely cause was speed, but the investigation is not complete and investigators are evaluating all possible causes, Montiel said.

Skyline Boulevard was closed in both directions for about two hours as officers investigated. Officers closed the road for an hour at some point later to recover the vehicle from the embankment.